The CUNY University Student Senate created a resource bank for CUNY students, staff and faculty with links for various kinds of support available during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 2, USS tweeted the COVID-19 resource bank and encouraged everyone to share it and message the senate members if they have trouble accessing the guide.

USS President Timothy Hunter posted the COVID-19 resource bank on his LinkedIn and other social media platforms as well.

“We at the University Student Senate created a Public resource bank using Google sheets that discusses all the resources that are available for CUNY students in NYC!” Hunter wrote in his post.

 “It has continued to grow so feel free to add your own resource or to share and help others! A special thanks to all that have helped already.”

On the resource guide, CUNY students can find on the resource guide direct links to college website pages specifically focused on COVID-19 updates and services. For example, John Jay College of Criminal Justice students can find help for emergency funding and academic resources. There is also a link to online counseling for immigrant John Jay students.

Students dealing with food insecurity can find various food services that are available to them in their neighborhoods as well as a direct link to the NYC Human Resources Association Emergency Cash Assistance.

There is the COVID-19 Food Hub NYC website, which has updates for accessing school food, a general food resource guide and information on COVID-19 for families.

CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez announced that CUNY’s Summer 2020 courses will be conducted via distance education format. The resource guide includes a link for students to get free access to Spectrum Broadband and Wi-Fi for 60 days, which is a necessity for remote learning.

Mental health support services can also be found on the guide including NYC Well, which is New York City’s free, confidential, 24-hours mental health and substance misuse service. NYC Well has COVID-19 digital mental health resources available for everyone.

Domestic violence resources can be found on the guide, with both websites and telephone numbers to the services available.

The domestic violence resources are categorized by borough but the New York City Domestic Violence Hotline and the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence are there as well, which provide services to all boroughs.

Veteran services on the guide include the Veteran Crisis Line and PTSD Coach, which is an app for veterans experiencing PTSD.

The USS resource bank can also help individuals that are not in New York City during the COVID-19 crisis. Included in the resource guide are nationwide resources plus specific financial, legal, medical, mutual aid and food resources.

Updates to the resource bank can be expected since the guide is free for anyone to access and add any helpful information for those who are struggling during the pandemic.